There’s a whole host of sporting events to look forward to throughout 2021. Whether you can attend in person or not you can always catch them on television or live streams.
With major events taking place virtually every weekend for the remainder of the year, if you don’t have cable television you may want to check out these free sports streaming sites to make sure you don’t miss any of the action.
Whether you’re into football, boxing, formula 1 or athletics, there’s something for everyone this year with a number of the world’s biggest events set to take place. Here are our picks among the top sporting events to watch in 2021:
Euro 2020
The UEFA European Football Championships were delayed 12 months but that has only increased the anticipation among football fans across the globe to this summer’s event, particularly for nationals of the 24 countries involved.
51 matches take place over the course of a month, culminating in the final on Sunday 11 July 2021 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The group stages were drawn over a year ago, with all eyes on Group F in particular, which sees Hungary up against world champions France, defending champions Portugal, and footballing giants Germany.
Scotland have qualified for their first major tournament since 1998 and face England in the group stage. Steve Clarke’s side will also come up against Croatia and the Czech Republic in what will be tricky by their standards.
The countries are split into six groups of which 16 of the 24 will progress into the knockout rounds.
Tokyo Olympics
Also postponed last year, the Tokyo Olympic Games are set to start on Friday 23 July. The event brings the best athletes from around the world to the Japanese capital for two weeks of competition.
339 events across 33 sports are set to take place with 206 nations expected to participate.
Usually the second week of the event is the most popular as the track and field events take place. The men’s 100 metres often attracts the largest viewership, and this year should be no different as Usain Bolt looks to win the event for an incredible fourth time.
Prior to that, the football should attract a large following and the rugby sevens will be appearing for only the second time.
There are also five events set to make their debut in Tokyo:
- Sport Climbing
- Surfing
- Skateboarding
- Karate
- Baseball
Tokyo won the vote to host the latest Olympic Games back in 2013.
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua
The fight every British boxing fan was waiting for is set to take place later this year as Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua has finally been made official.
In fact, a two-bout contract has been signed. A date and venue have still yet to be confirmed for the first meeting though, but many expect it will happen over the summer.
Anthony Joshua is the reigning IBF, WBA and WBO champion and brutally destroyed challenger Kubrat Pulev at the end of last year. One significance about that fight is that Joshua will be in ring shape whilst his opponent will have gone well over a year since he last stepped into the ring.
Tyson Fury claims that won’t have a negative affect on him, but is he just playing mind games? The 32-year-old last fought Deontay Wilder back in February 2020, winning with a seventh round TKO.
The Gypsy King is 30-0-1 in his career, whilst Joshua’s sole defeat in 25 bouts came courtesy of a shock by Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019. The Brit comfortably won the rematch however.
Formula One World Championship
The 2021 Formula One season starts this weekend in Bahrain as Lewis Hamilton looks to win the title for a fifth successive year, which would see him surpass Michael Schumacher as the most successful driver of all-time. That’s if the Brit isn’t already.
Both Hamilton and Schumacher have seven world championships – more than any other driver in the history of the sport. The Mercedes driver teams up with Valtteri Bottas this season.
23 races take place over the course of the season, concluding at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 12 December.
Racing Point have renamed to Aston Martin ahead of the new season, with Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll driving for the British-based team.
IPL
The 2021 Indian Premier League is set to start next month with eight teams taking place in the Twenty20 cricket competition that lasts until 30 May.
Six venues will host this season’s tournament, including the 132,000 capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The Mumbai Indians have won the last two seasons and are involved in the opening game of the 2021 campaign when they take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday 9 April.
The Rajasthan Royals made Chris Morris the most expensive player at last month’s draft when they purchased the South African all-rounder for $2.3 million.
Football
The 2020-21 football seasons are heading into the final months as league titles, domestic cups and European trophies will all be decided by the end of May.
Manchester City are currently running away with the English Premier League, whilst Internazionale have a healthy gap over local rivals AC Milan in Italy’s Serie A. Bayern Munich are expected to go on and retain their German Bundesliga crown from the position they are in, whilst Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid are all battling it out to be champions of Spain.
On the European front, both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League are at the quarter-final stages. You can follow the best football blogs Be sure to read the best football blogs to keep up-to-date with the latest news, results and opinions.
Defending champions Bayern Munich versus Paris Saint-Germain is arguably the draw of the Champions League quarter-finals, whilst many fancy Manchester City to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.
Real Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea all remain in the competition.
Manchester United could meet Arsenal in the Europa League final as the Premier League sides were kept apart in the draw. They are both widely expected to win their quarter-final ties too, drawing Granada and Slavia Prague respectively.